


Of Oaths and Girls in Love

by shadowtraveled (meteorfest)



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/F, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-24
Updated: 2015-10-24
Packaged: 2018-04-27 22:32:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5067046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meteorfest/pseuds/shadowtraveled
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the Giant war, Thalia goes to Camp Half-Blood to check on the girl she’s always loved.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Oaths and Girls in Love

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Rare Pair Project's "Femslash Friday" prompt. I've missed this pairing a lot, so I decided to write a little piece for it.

Soon after the war was finally over and Camp Half-Blood was beginning to recover, Thalia sought her goddess’ permission to head for the camp she’d called home for a short time. Artemis agreed that the Hunters needed a rest and gave them her blessing to head for Cabin 8 to recover. They’d lost many good girls in the fight against Orion and Artemis wished them time to recuperate, regain their strength, mourn their lost sisters, and - should anyone at Camp Half-Blood wish to join them - take in new recruits.

Thalia wasn’t interested in recovering. She mourned Phoebe, Naomi, Celyn, and the rest of her fallen comrades, but Thalia’s heart ached more for one friend that she’d been worried about ever since she’d heard about the fall to Tartarus. The moment the remaining Hunters gathered at Camp Half-Blood, Thalia was seeking out Annabeth and she soon found the other girl in her own cabin.

Thalia ran across the cabin, paying no mind to the other children of Athena inside - she had eyes only for her oldest living friend. She called out Annabeth’s name and caught the other girl - now older than her - in her arms, hugging her tightly. Forget calm and collected composure, her best friend was alive! Annabeth’s arms were around her in return immediately, clinging desperately to Thalia, and the two of them stayed like that, holding each other tightly and neither of them willing to let go.

“Thank gods,” Thalia whispered, voice hoarse with restrained sobs. She buried her face in Annabeth’s shoulder, letting her tears fall only when the other girl’s shirt was pressed against her eyes to catch them. “You’re alive, thank gods!”

“You’re one to talk,” Annabeth told her. Thalia could hear that the daughter of Athena was holding back her own sobs, voice strained as she spoke. “Baiting Orion and ambushing him? You’re insane, Thalia! You could have been killed!”

Thalia didn’t point out that Hunters  _had_ been killed. If Annabeth knew about the ambush on Orion, she’d probably talked to Reyna and learned about the sacrifices both the Hunters and the Amazons had made to try to stop him. “I wasn’t, though,” she pointed out instead.

Annabeth let go of Thalia suddenly, shoving her back. “But you  _could have been_!” she exclaimed. There were tears in her stormy grey eyes and Thalia knew it was because of her that they were there. “Do you honestly think you could just risk your life like that? Do you have any idea what that would have done to me? I’ve already lost too many friends, Thalia!”

Thalia bit her lip, knowing Annabeth had lost many friends. They both had - not just recently, with the ones lost in the ambush and Leo, but they’d lost so many friends since the Titan war and its successor. They’d both lost Luke just the previous summer. That pain was still fresh for them. Adding on the recent deaths, it was too much for both of them.

“I could have lost you, Thalia,” Annabeth murmured.

Thalia glanced around the cabin for a moment, noting that Annabeth’s siblings had left. She knew that Annabeth didn’t tend to let her emotions get the better of her in front of anyone; Annabeth was logic and sensibility, not the kind of girl who wore her heart on her sleeve. Few got to see the daughter of Athena openly admit her fears or see her cry.

Annabeth ducked her head, letting her blonde bangs cover her eyes. “I can’t lose you, Thalia. I’ve already lost Luke. I can’t - I  _won’t_  lose you, too.”

“You’re not going to lose me,” Thalia promised quietly. She reached out and caught Annabeth’s face between her hands, gently tilting the other girl’s head up until her friend was looking at her. “Listen me, Annabeth. I’m not going anywhere. I’m immortal - ”

“Unless you fall in love or die in combat,” Annabeth pointed out.

“Hasn’t happened yet,” Thalia grinned. Even as she said it, she knew it only applied to one of the two conditions. She’d been in love for a long time and had kept that love a secret, never speaking of it and only ever acting on it once - the day she’d taken the Oath. Yes, she’d taken the Oath to avoid being the child of the Great Prophecy, but she’d done it for one other reason; she’d done it for Annabeth, so the girl she loved would never have to see their world destroyed because of her. Thalia pushed those thoughts out of her mind and focused on Annabeth. “And it’s not going to happen. C’mon, you know me.”

“I know you’ve nearly died before,” Annabeth told her. She brought one hand up to wipe away the tears rimming her eyes. “I’ve had nightmares about that day, even after you came back. I still see it in my mind. I can’t lose you again.”

“You won’t.”

“I know I won’t,” Annabeth replied. She set her lips in a firm line, her grey eyes darkening for a moment. Thalia recognized the look in her friend’s eyes as the one Annabeth always got when she’d made a decision, one that she’d never back down from. “I know, because I’m going to make sure of it.” She reached and pulled Thalia’s hands from her face, holding them in hers. “I want to join the Hunt.”

Thalia blinked, taken aback by the other girl’s words. “You…Annabeth, you can’t. You’d have to give up so much. You’d be leaving Percy behind.”

She knew that Annabeth loved Percy. She’d known it the day she’d taken the Oath, had seen the way Annabeth looked at the son of Poseidon. Thalia had seen, after Kronos had been defeated, how Annabeth had celebrated by kissing Percy. She’d kept tabs on her friends, knowing through the gossip line how Percy and Annabeth, star couple of Camp Half-Blood, had celebrated a month of dating. She knew how devastated Annabeth had been when Percy had disappeared.

Thalia couldn’t believe that Annabeth would give that up. “Annabeth, you can’t give that up.”

“Thalia.” Annabeth looked directly at her friend. “I love Percy. He’s my best friend, after you. But…going through Tartarus with him, I thought I loved him the way I’m supposed to, like we’re supposed to be together for the rest of our lives.” She shook her head. “But…the other day, after Nico spoke to Percy, I saw how it things clicked in Percy’s seaweed brain. Things clicked in mine, too. Percy’s…I love him, but there’s someone else I love more, and always have.”

“You mean me.” Thalia didn’t need to question it. She knew Annabeth meant her. “That’s why you want to join the Hunt. To be with me.”

“The Oath says you give up the company of men,” Annabeth murmured. “It never says anything about giving up the company of women. Artemis loved Zöe. Anyone could see that Zöe loved her, too.”

“Phoebe loved Naomi,” Thalia added. She’d known her fellow Hunters better than Annabeth did. She’d seen the two of them exchanging glances and soft smiles, had caught them kissing once. “You’re right, the Oath never says we give up the company of women. But we still remain chaste, so…even if Artemis lets us love other women, we can’t…”

“We don’t have to. Love isn’t about sex. Besides, I’ve always understood that I was asexual, so it doesn’t concern me.”

“You’ll have to take the Oath with the others and make it to Artemis when she joins us,” Thalia told Annabeth.

“I know,” the other girl replied. She gave a sigh, running her hand through her hair. “That gives me time to explain things to Percy. And call my dad.”

Thalia gave a nod, leaning in and giving Annabeth a hug. “Do what you need to. Artemis will be here in two days. Any girls who want to take the Oath can see her then.”

Annabeth hugged Thalia back, burying her face against the other girl’s shoulder, as Thalia had done when she’d come into the Athena cabin. “Thank you, Thalia.”

They stayed in the Athena cabin for a while, talking about the Oath and the Hunters, what Annabeth had in store for her once she joined. Thalia was certain that Artemis would be happy to have the daughter of Athena - one of the greatest demigods of her age - among the Hunters. She, herself, was just glad that she would have her friend, the girl she’d always loved, at her side again. Admittedly, she felt a little bad about Percy and how he’d take this, but if Annabeth was right - as she usually was - Percy would heal and move on eventually.

And Annabeth and Thalia would move on together.


End file.
